Justdiggit, a dutch-based non-profit supporting land restoration in sub-Saharan Africa, is utilising Planet Lab’s high-resolution satellite imagery data feeds to quantify, evaluate, and scale their regreening projects in sub-Saharan Africa. By leveraging this cutting-edge technology, these two organisations lend scientific credibility and concrete metrics to nature-based solutions.

Justdiggit supports local farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania and Kenya to use accessible tools, like shovels, to dig bunds—semi-circular shaped pits that help the soil capture rainwater. This is especially important in regions impacted by droughts and the loss of natural vegetation to hydrate and regenerate the land. In addition, Planet’s unique remotely-sensed insights and satellite tasking capabilities enable Justdiggit to gain an advanced awareness of the changing world. Thus, as Planet’s satellite imagery captures the landscape change, Justdiggit will use mobile technology, data, and communication to scale its impact on the African continent and create awareness around nature-based solutions worldwide.

“Building the futures we want will require us to live sustainably and restoratively,” said Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer at Planet. “The surest path to doing so is to support culturally relevant and ecologically proven practices with new tools, and that’s exactly what’s happening here. We couldn’t be prouder to see our data, products, and services used this way.”

According to a press release by Planet Labs, Justdiggit and their partners have brought back over 10 million trees in sub-Saharan Africa, with 300,000 hectares under regreening. Over the last year, Planet, the European Space Agency (ESA), the University of Leicester, and Justdiggit launched the Restore-IT project, which focused on evaluating and quantifying the success of their regreening initiatives. In this project, Justdiggit leveraged Planet’s products to measure the impact of their restoration sites in Tanzania and Kenya.

“The key is in showing the impact long term and at the landscape level,” said Sander de Haas, Chief Technical Officer and Regreening Expert at Justdiggit, explaining that Planet data was used throughout the restoration process — from planning to evaluation — and provided valuable data for reporting comprehensive metrics to donors and partners.

Justdiggit aims to scale its program to millions of farmers. They and their partners are making significant strides to regreen Africa, support sustainable livelihoods, and combat the climate crisis.